Not Cinderella
by zkjanie
Summary: We all know the story of Cinderella, right? And we all know it only tells what happened to Cinderella, right? Well what about Prince Charming? And what if it wasn't love at first sight, but a childhood romance reunited?


Disclaimer: I own nothing...

"Hahahaha! Let's go Charles! Get the ball!" children scattered throughout the grass cheered.

"Yeah! Go Charles! Woo!" little girls who were seated at the benches yelled out loud.

Charles Charming, age 4, known to be a real girl charmer at the Ever After pre-school, shot the girls a nice toothy grin as his brilliant blue eyes twinkled with the sun's reflection. He quickly caught up to his opponent and swiftly stole the soccer ball away and his foot flew up high as he kicked the ball into the goal, winning the game.

"Woo!! Go Charles!!" everyone screamed and cheered. All the older students happily ran over to Charles and lifted him up and sat him down on their shoulders and carried him around the field in merriment.

"Okay guys okay! You can let me down now!" Charles sighed gleefully and caught his breath. The students carefully set him down onto a bench. Charles brought his pale arm up to his forehead and swiped away a bead of sweat. That's when he realized the position he was in. Smirking, he sat back against the table behind him. "You know…I am feeling a bit thirsty. Anyone want to get me a glass of water?"

Without delay, all the sweaty kids around him buzzed around in search for a water fountain and a cup. Once they were out of sight, Charles ran for his life. Anything to get away from his stalkers. A bead of sweat dripped down Charles' face as he ran out into the grass field and before he knew it – _THUMP!_

He was running so fast away from the kids that he hadn't seen where he was going and accidentally bumped into a girl his age, knocking her down to the ground. Guilt showered over his body as Charles held out a hand. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I didn't mean it!"

"Hey! Look what you did!" the girl spat at him as she brushed off the dirt on her blue dress. "You got dirt all over my new dress that my daddy bought for me! He worked really hard to get this for me!" She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes.

_Oh my gosh. What pretty eyes!_ Charles' eyes locked with her and he forgot what he was about to do.

"Hey!" she yelled again. Charles' blinked a couple times and regained his sense of reality. But instead of focusing on her ruined dress, his eyes went directly over to the bleeding scrape on her knee.

"You're bleeding!" Charles yelled out in worry and quickly grabbed for the extra tissues he had in his pants pocket. "Here, I'll help you wipe it off."

"Um, t-thanks." The girl said hesitantly. When the blood was finally gone, the two stood up and brushed themselves off. Once they were free of the dirt, the girl confidently held out a hand and introduced herself. "My name's Ella!"

Charles grinned gladly and shook her small hand. "I'm Ch—"

Ella gasped, "Oh wait! I know you! You're Charles Charming! You're the son of the guy running to be king right?"

"Yeah! How did you know?" Charles was definitely taken aback. When he first arrived at the pre-school, nobody recognized him. Not even the teacher! _Wow…_

"And your dad's running to be king because the last king didn't have an heir right?"

"Y-Yeah! Wow! You sure know a lot!" Charles gasped sincerely. _Nobody knows that except for the political people! Nobody! _"You know, you look really familiar!"

"Of course I look familiar silly! Our dads are friends!" Ella exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember! I think we're going to be good friends!" exclaimed Charles; a giant grin smack down in the middle of his youthful face.

* * *

_1 year later…_

"And our new king is Bartholomew Charming!" The Grand Duke announced on the platform to the people of the country. "Congratulations to our new king!"

"Charles! Congratulations!" Ella called out in the crowded room of fellow students in her pre-school. "And I'm getting a new mommy today! And two new sisters!"

"Thanks Ella! Congratulations to you too!" Charles called back and attacked her in a massive bear hug. "But…"

"What is it?" Cinderella asked worriedly.

"But…because my dad won, we have to move to the palace." Charles explained in a forlorn voice.

"What? That's so cool!" she cheered.

"That means I'm going to have to move away…from here." Charles looked away.

"O-oh…I see…" Ella mumbled. She slid away a tear from her eye and gave Charles a big embrace. "Well you have to write! I'm going to miss you soo much!"

Charles was taken aback and a silent gasp left his lips and his eyes widened increasingly. He stuck his feet to the ground and hugged her back, a single tear escaping his closed eyes.

* * *

_14 years later…_

"Hey babe, I'm feeling a bit off today, want to turn me on?" Prince Charles Charming chuckled to the brunette girl just a few feet away from him. A smirk slipped upon his face when she turned around to face him. All of a sudden, a face of disgust overtook her and she kicked him right in the shin and boldly walked away with her nose in the air.

"Hmm, suit yourself." Charles muttered whilst grasping his shin and hopping on his other foot. Once better, Charles made his way down to the other side of the marketplace street. The sun shined brightly, glistening in his blue eyes. The wind caressed his hair and his casual peasant flowed with a breeze. _Huh, this is quite a disguise if I do say so myself._

In the corner of his eye, he spotted a blonde girl in light green. He smirked slightly strolled confidently over to her. "I bit my lip…"

The girl turned around swiftly.

"…would you kiss it better?"

A bright red handprint was branded onto Charles' cheek as the girl stomped pass him. He quickly gripped his burned side of his face and let out a girlish squeal.

"Prince Charles! Prince Charles!" The familiar scratchy voice of the Grand Duke called out. "What are you doing out here! And in these filthy rags?! You must go back to the palace your highness!"

"Ah, well _Dukey_, my name is Prince _Charming_, an--" He made a run for it. By the time the Grand Duke realized what was going on, Charles was already out of sight.

"Sir! Sir!" The Grand Duke, not knowing what to do, started to panic and chased after Prince Charles. "Prince Charles!"

_Oh my god. He's right after me!_ Charles ran as fast as he could, his eyes focused on the Grand Duke behind him.

_THUMP!_

He bumped into a young lady who looked to be around his age, and knocked her down to the ground. Guilt showered over his body as he held out a hand. "Oh my god! Are you okay? I didn't mean it!"

"Hey! Look what you did!" the girl gasped at him as she brushed off the dirt on the basket of beautiful gowns she was carrying. "You got dirt all over my mother's and my sisters' new dresses! I'm going to get into so much trouble!" She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes.

_Oh my god. What pretty eyes!_ Charles' eyes locked with her and a weird feeling of déjà vu rushed all over him. _Huh?_

"Hey!" she yelled again. "You knocked me down. You could at least have the courtesy to help me pick up these gowns.

Charles' blinked a couple times and regained his sense of reality. But instead of focusing on her ruined dress, his eyes went directly over to the bleeding scrape on her knee.

_How…familiar._ The girl thought to herself.

"H--" Charles blurted out, but was abruptly interrupted.

"Cinderella! You dropped all our beautiful gowns?! How dare you! Pick them up right now!" a senile looking woman with an evil glare screeched out. Behind her were two rather hideous girls, both dressed in tacky bright clothing. The girl on the woman's right was quite fat and clothed in a hot pink feathery dress. _Oh my god, how can she stand to wear something like that on a day like this?_ Charles thought. The girl on the woman's left however, looked like an anorexic. In fact her arms looked nothing more than skin and bones, and she was clothed in a dark green and black dress. _On the other hand, how can __**she**__ dress like that on a day like this?_ Charles thought again.

"Cinderella! Hurry up!" The woman barked again. Charles shook his head and snapped back into reality as the girl—Cinderella—picked up the last of the dresses and hurried back to catch up with her "family".

"W-wait!" He called out, but it was too late. 'Cinderella' was already gone and out of sight. But instead, the Grand Duke caught up to him and sternly ordered him to go back to the palace. Charles gave up on running away and simply turned back, his deep blue eyes lingering on where Cinderella disappeared to. They made their way back up the street and Charles spotted the red and gold carriage waiting for him. He hoisted himself up and sat down on the comfy seat, the Grand Duke behind him.

Back home, Charles dashed to his room as quickly as he could in hopes of no one catching him in his peasant disguise. Once in and secure, he hastily changed into his imperial suit assigned to him for that day and strolled over the main dining hall where his parents, the king and queen, resided. All the while, he couldn't get those brilliant yet vaguely familiar green eyes out of his mind. He grabbed the first chair he rest his eyes on and pulled it out, taking a seat. Across from him sat his loving, yet slightly crazy, mother the Queen, and next to him sat his stern, scary when serious, father the King.

_God, it's too quiet…a little shameless flirting might help…_Charles smirked when he saw the young maid come out of the kitchen with his food. She set the plates it front of him gently and bowed. Smirking wider, he flirtatiously whispered thank you and winked. The maid's once pale cheeks turned cherry red as she giggled and rushed back into the kitchen giddily.

"Hm, I see you're still flirting with every girl you lay your eyes on." The King stated monotonously, still chewing his food. Charles suddenly whipped his head around to face his father when his mother spoke up.

"Still?! Honey, you're already 19! In 2 years, less than 2 years, you're going to have to assume the throne! I think it's time you just settle on a decent young lady and get married already!" The Queen squealed loudly across the table. But to Charles, everything she just said just went in one ear and out the other as he played with his food.

"Okay mom. I'm right here. You don't need to scream." He replied.

"You know son, I've actually been thinking about this for quite a while and I've discussed it with your mother quite a few times, but…" the King began.

Charles' ears perked up and he raised his head and sat up straight, facing his parents. "But...?"

"But…with the way you've been acting lately, I think we should make it happen." The Queen finished.

"Make what happen?" the Prince looked back and forth at the King and Queen.

"An arranged marriage." His father said sternly. Charles began to panic. He had heard about arranged marriages before, but in other cultures and countries around the world. Apparently, their parents chose someone for their child to marry, and the two who are betrothed have no choice other than to follow their parents' orders and get married. Most of the time, the two won't even know who each other are or what they even look like until the day of the wedding. _Oh my god._

"There's no way! I'm not doing an arranged marriage! You can't make me!" Charles yelled out in anger and stomped to the door, and when he pulled it open, a pile of people fell down in front of him. The Grand Duke on the bottom.

"Dukey?! What are you doing down here?" Charles questioned.

"A-Ahh, well you see your highness, I couldn't help but overhear," The Grand Duke began to explain to the King and Queen, completely disregarding the fact that Charles was right in front of him, "and I wanted to suggest that perhaps a ball might be a good compromise for you and the Prince."

"A ball?" The King, Queen, and Charles all said in unison. The Queen spoke up again, "Go on."

"Well, I thought that perhaps if we were to hold a ball, and invite all the eligible ladies in the land, then maybe Prince Charles--" Charles shot Dukey a glare, "I-I mean, Prince _Charming_ can choose the maiden he wishes to marry then. That way, you'll have your arranged marriage, and the Prince will get to marry who he wants."

"That's a splendid idea! We shall do it! Go and make it happen Grand Duke!" The King announced happily.

"Ooh! This will be so exciting! Maybe we should make it a cool Mafia themed ball! Or perhaps a Night of the Dead-themed ball!" the Queen began rambling on with more ideas.

"Heh, we should just go and make it a masquerade ball. That way I won't have to show my face." Charles muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That's a fantastic idea Charleton!" his mother cheered. Charles' head, which was resting on his hand on the table, dropped and hit his plate and his eyes immediately widened.

"What?! No! I was being sarcastic!" he complained and tried to beg his mom no. But all she did was grin slyly and walk casually back into her room.

That night, Charles Charming lay in bed, his hands resting under his pillow. He blinked exhaustedly a couple times before finally falling asleep. The luminescent moon shined brightly through the translucent curtains and the light hugged his silent sleeping form.

_He was running so fast away from the kids that he hadn't seen where he was going and accidentally bumped into a girl his age, knocking her down to the ground. Guilt showered over his body as Charles held out a hand. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I didn't mean it!"_

"_Hey! Look what you did!" the girl spat at him as she brushed off the dirt on her blue dress. "You got dirt all over my new dress that my daddy bought for me! He worked really hard to get this for me!" She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes. _

_Oh my gosh. What pretty eyes! Charles' eyes locked with her and he forgot what he was about to do. _

"_Hey!" she yelled again. Charles' blinked a couple times and regained his sense of reality. But instead of focusing on her ruined dress, his eyes went directly over to the bleeding scrape on her knee. _

"_You're bleeding!" Charles yelled out in worry and quickly grabbed for the extra tissues he had in his pants pocket. "Here, I'll help you wipe it off." _

"_Um, t-thanks." The girl said hesitantly. When the blood was finally gone, the two stood up and brushed themselves off. Once they were free of the dirt, the girl confidently held out a hand and introduced herself. "My name's Ella!"_

_Charles grinned gladly and shook her small hand. "I'm Ch—"_

_Ella gasped, "Oh wait! I know you! You're Charles Charming! You're the son of the guy running to be king right?" _

"_Yeah! How did you know?" Charles was definitely taken aback. When he first arrived at the pre-school, nobody recognized him. Not even the teacher! Wow…_

"_And your dad's running to be king because the last king didn't have an heir right?"_

"_Y-Yeah! Wow! You sure know a lot!" Charles gasped sincerely. Nobody knows that except for the political people! Nobody! "You know, you look really familiar!" _

"_Of course I look familiar silly! Our dads are friends!" Ella exclaimed. _

"_Oh yeah! Now I remember! I think we're going to be good friends!" exclaimed Charles; a giant grin smack down in the middle of his youthful face._

His eyes began to blink and he sheepishly opened his eyelids. _Not that dream again. It's been more than a decade since I last saw her!_ Letting out a deep groan, he cleared his throat and reached for his peasant jacket. If he couldn't sleep, the least he could do was take a midnight stroll to clear his mind.

_I don't believe this. I mean, an arranged marriage?! Are they out of their minds?! In this time and age, nobody has something as preposterous as arranged marriages anymore! This is absolutely ludicrous! Had they been in my position, they'd understand. I mean, who would want to marry some random girl off the street?_

… Charles made a quick left and strolled through the marketplace.

_Well, I guess I would, but only if they look…umm…look like they're worth marrying._

… He rounded the corner and walked into what seemed like a quiet neighborhood.

_That girl back at the street was definitely worth it. I'd never forget such powerful eyes. It's almost like déjà vu I guess. Speaking of which, she seemed so familiar! Where have I seen her before? And that dream? That same dream over and over and over again. _

…

_That's weird. I met that girl the same way I met Ella back then…what if?_

_Pfft. Nah!_

Charles caught his foot in a vine and fell on his face. He cursed quietly to himself; slight worry took over him as he wondered if he'd woken up anyone. "Whoa, I'm in someone's backyard. I should get out of here." He silently carried himself back up, dusted himself off, and gently tiptoed out. Step… Step… Step... As he set one foot down outside the backyard, he heard crunching. _Sh--" _He started walking out again when he heard more crunching. Only louder this time. _Surely it's not me?_ He slowly turned his head around and widened his eyes only slightly when he spotted a girl a few yards behind him, picking up firewood, completely oblivious to his presence. Curious, Charles stepped back and quietly walked over to the girl, who too seemed quite familiar. _God, too many girls look the same_…

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" a feminine voice whispered loudly, and he couldn't help but laugh. He looked up and saw her holding a piece of firewood in a defensive position. He ended up laughing even more.

"Shush!" the girl whispered furiously and dropped her firewood, covering Charles' mouth with both her hands, "Who are you?"

He chuckled some more to himself and eventually stopped and kindly moved her hands away with his warm hands. He smirked, "I'm Pri—My name is Charming."

Her expression was priceless. One eyebrow was raised and her intense green eyes read, "Are you kidding me?"

"So what's your name?" he asked her innocently, unknowingly still holding her hands in his.

"You're name is…_Charming_?" she asked suspiciously. He simply nodded. "M-hmm, and my name is Attractive."

"Hahaha, funny. Okay _Attractive_, so what's your real name?"

"Hmm, I'll tell you if you let go of my hand." She replied and he let go. "It's El—Cinderella"

"Cinderella huh? I think I've heard that name somewhere before…But anyway how'd you end up with a name like that? Bit odd for a name don't you think?"

"Well, I didn't choose the name. My stupid stepsisters and my stepmom just call me that because I always end up falling asleep near the cinders after a long day of backbreaking chores." She finished explaining, stretching her arms and legs.

"What a stupid family." He muttered. "How'd you end up with a family like that?"

Cinderella chuckled, "It wasn't my fault…It was my dad's. See, when I was about 4 or 5, my dad remarried my stepmom, who already had two daughters from a previous marriage, thus my stepsisters. But a few days after the wedding, he mysteriously disappeared. All I found left of him were his eyeglasses…"

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I still think my stepmom killed him though." She laughed to herself, in attempt to lighten the mood. She yawned and looked out into the sky, which was already turning light blue as the morning sun began to rise. "Wow, its morning already. We talked all night and we just met!"

"That's pretty fascinating I have to say…" Charles stood up.

"…"Cinderella's green eyes widened increasingly and her expression on her face changed dramatically. "Oh my god it's morning already! You have to get out of here! If my stepmom or stepsisters catches a stranger in the house, they're going to roast me alive!"

Charles simply nodded reassuringly and ran for the palace. Luckily, it was still only dawn and none of his family members were awake yet. At least, he hoped they weren't. Quietly again, he tiptoed into his room, changed his clothes, and jumped into his bed, smiling into his pillows as he felt the softness surround him. That is, until…

"The invitations have been all printed out now, son! All you need to do now is deliver them!" The king exclaimed, waving several papers in the air with his meaty hands.

"Invitations for what?" Charles questioned, already half-asleep. Out of nowhere, the familiar scratchy voice of the Grand Duke echoed throughout his room and into his ears.

"Why, the ball of course your highness! How could you possibly forget?!"

"Oh, right, the ball. Okay. Whatever. I'm just going to go back to bed now thanks." And with that, the King and the Grand Duke exited the royal bedroom as Prince Charming fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

_Later that morning_…

The bright sunrays, now high up in the blue sky, shined through the translucent curtains as it hugged the prince's sleeping form. Sheepishly, his eyelids opened and revealed his deep blue eyes. He sighed, _it was all a dream? It didn't seem like it. Oh well. _But soon, his eyelids exploded wide open as the Grand Duke urgently skipped into his room and shook him awake.

"Sir! Sir! We must get going! We need to deliver the invitations today!" he exclaimed, waving the invitations in his hand like the King did hours earlier.

Charles quickly grabbed for his blanket covers to shield himself from the dazzling light from the sun. "Why can't you go by yourself? I'm too tired!"

"No sir! The King gave me specific orders to make sure you come with me to deliver the invitations to all the eligible ladies in the kingdom." He whipped away the covers from the Prince once more until he finally gave in.

"Fine!" Charles roared and got ready to leave, obviously cranky.

The two traveled all throughout the kingdom, each handing the eligible ladies their invitations, each escaping the rabid squeals and screams from each household. At last, they reached their last house, which turned out in fact to be Cinderella's house, and the Prince was desperately trying to hold on to his last nerve. Next to him, the Grand Duke reached out and banged on the knocker which hung on the front door of the house.

_This looks familiar_. Charles thought to himself referring back to his supposed dream from last night. _Maybe it wasn't a dream…I doubt it_.

Suddenly, the door swung open and revealed that senile lady from back at the marketplace the day before. And of course, behind her stood her two tacky daughters. The fat one on her right, the skinny one on her left. Not wanting to have to expose himself to the two girls, Charles just walked away without saying a word.

"I'm terribly sorry, but our Prince Charles…I mean, Prince Charming happened to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today. Please accept this invitation from the King and Queen. They have arranged a masquerade ball for all the eligible ladies in the kingdom to join to have a night of fun with the prince." The Grand Duke explained, but before he could finish his statement, one of the girls snatched the invitation right out of his hand and slammed the door in his face.

"Ahh!!!! I want this dress for the ball! Hurry and get me that dress! ….-ella!"

But finally, the day was over and done with. All that was left was the ball tomorrow.

* * *

Charles was wearing his finest suit for the night of the ball. He was dressed in brilliant white and gold, which nicely contradicted his nice dark hair. Upon his face was a shiny golden mask that covered the top half of his face, only leaving 2 holes in the middle for his eyes. He observed the large ballroom, which was now massively decorated in intricate streamers, ribbons, and much more. He looked around from the top of the stairs, and his eyes went over to the grand doors. There stood the hundreds of girls, all with interestingly different dresses on and their collective masks, waiting to be let in. The clock stroke 9:00 and Charles took in a deep breath the girls all rushed in. He carefully made his way down the heavy stairs and held out his hand to the first random girl he saw. She was a fiery red head with a dark blue dress on. Her mask, however, was completely contradicting her outfit and made her look like a bird. Their dance didn't last very long. After about 5 minutes, he moved on to the next girl, who had platinum blonde hair and a bright frilly pink dress on. On her face, the mask she was wearing was rather quite bold as it was millions of different colors and the sprinkles on it to make it shine constantly kept falling with her every move. Their dance didn't last very long either. And it was like that for the next 2 hours, until finally, the grand doors opened to reveal the last girl to arrive. She had nice blonde hair, all wrapped into an elegant bun. Her dress was magnificent as it was white with specks of blue everywhere. And on her feet were interestingly, glass slippers. And finally, on her face was her mask; it too was white, and hinted with a few sprinkles that shined brightly. She looked beautiful and breathtaking. And Charles couldn't take his eyes off her. As he looked closely at her face, he instantly saw her piercing green eyes speculating the room. Ditching his current dance partner, he made his way across the room and held out a hand and bowed to the girl. Hesitant at first, the girl took his hand and the two traveled to the middle of the dance floor, just as the soft melody of a waltz began playing. Her dainty fingers rested on his broad shoulder and his masculine hand wrapped around her pliant waist. The two spun together in their dance, every step exactly where it should be and they moved together smoothly as everyone else around them backed away in awe. Somehow the prince had managed to lead her outside whilst still dancing. Now all alone, the two danced more slowly, more closely, and even more slowly until they eventually came to a stop, but remained in position. Charles gazed into her green eyes, just as she gazed into his blue ones.

"You're so beautiful. And yet, so familiar." Charles brought up one hand and reached for her mask. Just as he was about to touch it, the clock tower in middle of the kingdom began to ring 12. It was midnight.

"Oh no…" the girl mumbled and quickly escaped the Prince's arms and left all too quickly. But, just as swiftly, Charles chased after her, only to find that she was already long gone and all that was left outside was nothing more than a smashed pumpkin. _If I can't go after her, then I might as well just leave it with the memory of her…_he thought to himself and headed up to his room, where he became fast asleep. However, in the morning though, the Grand Duke's voice screamed into the depths of Charles' room once more.

"What?!" Charles barked, his eyes still closed.

"Look what I found your highness! Looks like that young lady you seemed to fancy last night has left her shoe behind, or should I say glass slipper?" The Grand Duke hinted. Immediately, Charles' eyes shot wide open as he saw the very same glass slipper he saw from last night in front of his eyes.

_And on her feet were interestingly, glass slippers_.

"Huh." Charles' just carefully observed the glass slipper.

* * *

That night, Prince Charles couldn't fall asleep. He walked around his room, and ultimately decided to speculate the glass slipper once more.

_As he looked closely at her face, he instantly saw her piercing green eyes speculating the room._

_One eyebrow was raised and her intense green eyes read, "Are you kidding me?"_

_She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes. _

"_Hey! Look what you did!" the girl spat at him as she brushed off the dirt on her blue dress. "You got dirt all over my new dress that my daddy bought for me! He worked really hard to get this for me!" She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes._

"_Hey! Look what you did!" the girl gasped at him as she brushed off the dirt on the basket of beautiful gowns she was carrying. "You got dirt all over my mother's and my sisters' new dresses! I'm going to get into so much trouble!" She looked up at the perpetrator with her piercing green eyes._

_Charles gazed into her green eyes, just as she gazed into his blue ones. _

"_It wasn't my fault…It was my dad's. See, when I was about 4 or 5, my dad remarried my stepmom, who already had two daughters from a previous marriage, thus my stepsisters. _

"_And I'm getting a new mommy today! And two new sisters!"_

"_My name's Ella!"_

"_Cinderella! You dropped all our beautiful gowns?! How dare you! Pick them up right now!" a senile looking woman with an evil glare screeched out._

"_Cinderella! Hurry up!" The woman barked again._

"_It's El—Cinderella" _

"_Cinderella huh? I think I've heard that name somewhere before…_

"_It's El—Cinderella" _

"_Cinderella! Hurry up!"_

"_My name's Ella!"_

"_It's El—Cinderella"_

_Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella_

"Oh my god. It's Ella. Ella from preschool, my best friend! That Ella is the girl I bumped into at the street?! The Cinderella I talked to all night?! The one I danced with last night?!" An epiphany had struck Charles head and he shot out from under his covers and ran straight to his father. "Father! Father!"

"Wha-What is it?" The King stuttered.

"I know the girl I want to marry." He announced confidently. Immediately, all heads in the room shot his direction. Quickly, he held out the glass slipper. To keep it a little more secretive, Charles said, "I want to marry the girl whom fits this glass slipper!"

Once word came out, all the girls in the land that had attended the ball the previous night waited impatiently for the Prince to arrive.

One false thing that was announced in the papers was that apparently, the Prince was to go from house to house and having all the young ladies try on the shoe. However, that wasn't the real case. In fact, he knew exactly which house it was. And that's exactly where he went to with the Grand Duke.

This time, Charles banged on the door knocker and boldly walked in. He wanted to say "Where is Cinderella?" but unfortunately, the two freak sisters took hold of the shoe and he had no choice but to let them try it on. Clearly it was no fit as the fat girl's foot was too big, and the skinny girl's foot was too small.

"Ugh. Is there any other young lady in this house?" Charles asked the mother impatiently. Sternly, she said no with great force. And Charles and the Grand Duke were forced to leave.

The Grand Duke gently placed a hand on Charles' shoulder. "Maybe you got the wrong house?"

"No. There's no way I got the wrong house." Charles said with confidence. But then he remembered something…

_My stupid stepsisters and my stepmom just call me that because I always end up falling asleep near the cinders after a long day of backbreaking chores._

With a questionable expression on his face, the Prince went around the house and, as he predicted, found her gathering firewood in the backyard. Smiling, he walked in by himself and greeted her. "Hey there."

"Oh, hi! ...Charming?...was it?" Cinderella asked jokingly.

Chuckling slightly, he replied. "Do you recognize me?"

"Of course I do _Charming_." She laughed again.

"You know, last night, there was a ball at the palace…and there was this beautiful girl who had blonde hair and a magnificent white dress with a very mysterious mask. And we ended up dancing all night long. Unfortunately, I couldn't get her name; I was too intrigued. But then at midnight, she disappeared." Charles began to explain, hoping to get some sort of response out of her. And he did when he saw her eyes becoming her serious. "All she left behind was this." And he held out in front of her the glass slipper.

"…wow. That's quite a story you have." Cinderella replied, trying to change the subject. But he wasn't fazed. "Would you like to try it on?" he said delicately.

"O-oh, no I couldn't. I probably won't fit and—"

He looked into her eyes. "Please?"

"…sure." She finally gave in. He bent down in front of her as she sat down on the nearby chair. Carefully, he held out the glass slipper in front of her and she easily slipped her foot right in. She gasped silently. It was a perfect fit. However, Charles didn't get up right then. No, instead, he looked at her straight in the eye and said the words she thought she'd never hear.

"Will you marry me...Ella?" Charles saw her eyes getting bigger and answered her question before she could even ask. "It's me…Charles! Charles Charming, remember?"

Now, her eyes widened even more, and a huge gasp left her lips.

"Ella, will you marry me?" he asked again. But before he knew it, she leaped toward him and wrapped her hands around him as she embraced him in delight, yelling yes as loud as she could. But all of a sudden, the door behind them crashed open and there stood Cinderella's step-mother.

"What do you think you're doing?! Dear prince, this girl is nothing more than a measly servant girl! Nothing more! Surely you don't want to marry someone like her!" she rambled on and on. But was soon interrupted when she caught the smirk forming on the Prince's lips. "What?"

"Ah, so you're the evil stepmother that makes Ella do everything in the house, huh?" The Prince asked, distinctively remembering what Cinderella had told him about the chores.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You are under arrest for child labor." The Grand Duke, who stood behind her proclaimed.

"What?!—"

"AND, you will be stripped of all your wealth." That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The stepmother and the two stepsisters crumbled apart in tears as they realized what would become of them without their wealth.

Within the next week, Ella, not _Cinderella_, packed up her things and entered the palace to officially become recognized as the new Princess, which was made official during her and Prince Charles' wedding that happened the day after Ella's stepfamily broke down. But now, Ella's stepmom is working off her arrest by giving back every inch of anything that's worth anything to charity. Charles and Ella however, are now living happily together, and will _continue_, and not divorce like most couples, living happily ever after.

The End.

* * *

Alright, so, as a word of precaution should I say, I wrote this in like July last year for a writing assignment in which we were to re-write our own version of Cinderella through another characters' persepective without going into "la la land". And this is what I came up with, and I posted it up onto , and was gonna post it up there only,

BUT THEN! I found this bitch (i won't say who) on here who basically wrote the same childhood scenes and even the SAME FUCKING NAMES (!!!!) as me! So I got freakishly pissed off and decided to post mine up as competition! Mwuhahaha I'm so evil, but I'm pissed so I don't care.

Sorry for the cussing xD


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